Members of the Great Lakes conservation community gathered at Lake Erie Bluffs to announce 34 ecological restoration projects selected to receive $8.2 million in grant funding through the Sustain Our Great Lakes program. Sugarloaf Cove in Schroeder is one of the grant recipients.
With a focus on improving the quality and connectivity of tributary, wetland and coastal habitats, the Sustain Our Great Lakes program representatives explain that the 34 projects selected will “help protect, restore and enhance the ecological integrity of the Great Lakes and surrounding region.”
Sugarloaf Cove, where the North Shore Stewardship Association plans to assist private landowners with invasive species control and native tree planting to restore approximately 200 acres of coastal forest along Lake Superior, received $25,000.
Other 2012 grants for Minnesota include a grant ot Minnesota Trout Unlimited to restore habitat for coaster brook trout and other salmonids along more than 7,000 feet of the Stewart River by adding in-stream structures and planting riparian trees to increase canopy cover ($120,000), and other projects intended to improve passage for fish and other aquatic organisms, control invasive species, restore wetland hydrology, improve stream habitat, assist private landowners who want to improve wildlife habitat on their property.
“These grants will help generate important ecological, economic and social benefits,” said Jeff Trandahl, Executive Director and CEO of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF).
“By making wildlife populations healthier, improving water quality and supporting local jobs, this work will result in a better quality of life for the people of the Great Lakes basin.”
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